Transposing-keyboard for pianos and organs.



P. BIALIK.

TRANSPOSING KEYBOARD FOR PIANOS AND ORGANS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1911. 1,000,365.

Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

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P. BIALIK.

TRANSPOSING KEYBOARD FOR PIANOS AND ORGANS.

APPLICATION IILED FEB. 23, 1911.

11 000 365 Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

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COLUMBIA PLANOOIAPH 60., WAIHINOTON, D- I? UNTTED PAUL BIALIK, OF PINELA'WN, ll'IISSGURI, ASSIGNOR GE ONE-HALF TO BEN J. BUHLAND, OF ST.LGUIS, MISSOURI.

TRANSPOSING-KEYBGARD FQP/ EIANOS AND ORG-ANS.

eoaaes.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, PAUL BIALIK, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Pine Lawn, St. Louis county, Missourhhave invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Transposing-Keyboards for Pianos andUrgans, of which the following is a specification containing a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to an improved transposing keyboard for pianos andorgans, and consists in the novel construction and combination of partshereinafter described and pointed out in the annexed claim.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved transposingkeyboard for pianos or organs, whereby transposition may be readily andquickly made to any desired key.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top planview of a portion of a pianokeyboard, with parts broken away to better exhibit my invention, and thesame having my invention applied thereto. Eig. 2 is a sectionalsideelevation of the same, the section being taken on the line 22 ofFig. 1. Fig. 8 is a detail section, taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

The numeral 1 indicates the casing of the piano or organ, having thefront guide-bar 2 and the rear guide-bar 3 arranged therein, so as toform a track or guideway for the sliding transposing keyboard-frame 1,which slides above the key-levers 5, upon said guideway. The saidkey-levers 5 are of the usual construction and operation, except that inthe present instance ll have shown their front ends cut off a distance,as they would be unnecessarily long if left 'full length. Saidkey-levers 5 are provided with the usual pivots, at 6, as more clearlyshown in Fig. 2. Each of said key-levers is provided upon its upper sidewith a filling-block 7, for filling in the space between said levers andthe underside the overlying transposing-keys carried by the saidsliding-frame 4:, which latter I will hereinafter designate as thesliding carriage. he said filling-blocks 7 are preferably tapered fromtheir base upwardly, to make them lighter, and are surmounted by asuitable pad 8 to receive the impact of the said carriage keys. Thepurpose of the said filling-blocks is to fill in the space between saidcarriage keys Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 23, 1911.

Patented All, 15, 1911.

Serial Ho. 610,183.

and said key-levers 5, and also to present a comparatively uniformheight of filling above said levers, permitting all of the keys of thecarriage toslide over and then be depressed into contact with thefilling-block of any one of a series of adjacent key-levers, as requiredduring operation. The said sliding carriage a is preferably composed ofa rectangular frame, as shown in Fig. 1, and it has a longitudinalpivot-bar 9 near its rear side, to which bar the carriage keys 10 and 11are pivoted by means of common pivots 12. The carriage may be ofsuflicient dimensions to accommodate any desired number of keys 10 and11; that is to say, it may carry a greater or lesser number of keys thanthe corresponding key-levers 5, and it may have such a length as tooverlap by a full octave the said key-levers 5, or it may, if desired,be an octave or less shorter.

13 indicates a guard-bar for the rear ends of the carriage keys 1(), 11,the said bar extending over the rear ends of said keys longitudinally ofthe carriage at a slight distance above said ends, and having itsopposite ends fixed to the end-bars of said carriage, in order toprevent said keys from being accidentally detached from said pivots 12.14 indicates another guard-bar for the carriage keys, said bar extendinglongitudinally of the carriage above said keys 10 and 11, and havingpads 15 upon its underside to receive the rebound of said keys. :laidbar 14.- also has its ends attached to the endbars of the carriage, andextends over said keys at a point, preferably, just in the rear of therear ends of the black portions of the said keys 11, although it isevident that it may be located farther back than it is herein shown,depending upon the taste of the builder.

16 indicates the front key-stop rail, which extends from end to end ofthe carriage 4 near the front thereof, to support the front ends of saidkeys 10 and 11. Interposed between the said keys 10 and 11 and the saidfront rail 16 are springs 17, which normally hold said keys in anelevated position with their upper sides in contact with the pads 15 ofthe upper bar 14. Said springs 17 are held in place by guide-pins 18,which have their lower ends fixed in said front rail 16 and extend upinto suitable holes 19 formed in the underside of said keys 10 and 11.

20 indicates a front stop and guide rail for the front ends of thekey-levers 5; said rail carrying guide pins 21 which enter suitableholes or recesses 22 formed in the undersides of said key-levers andextending through the same partway into the said filling-blocks 7carried by said levers.

The operation is very simple, and is as follows: The player grasps thecarriage 4L and moves it back or forth upon the guidebars 2 and 8 untilthe carriage keys 10 and 11 rest above the proper, or desired keylevers5 and their filling-blocks 7, so as to transpose to any desired key, asrequired.

What I claim is:

A piano or other musical instrument, fitted with a carriage, guides uponwhich said carriage slides, a pivot bar on said C?ll' riage, a set ofkeys pivoted on said pivotsubscribing witnesses.

PAUL BIALIK. Witnesses JOHN F. RUI-ILAND, J OHN C. I-IIeooN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

